Hundreds of teachers demonstrated in the capital Sao Tome on Tuesday against government proposals and demanded higher salaries.
At the height of the teachers’ strike, the demonstration marched approximately one and a half kilometers from Praça da Cultura on the outskirts of the Historical Archives of São Tomé to Praça Yon Gato, located near the office of Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada.
The teachers were dressed in black and held placards with slogans such as “Without education there is no nation”, “The teaching class demands respect”, “No more humiliation”, “Decent work”, “Decent wages”, “No more exploitation”.
“We are happy. At least we managed to get teachers to take to the streets and express their outrage,” said Vera Lomba, a representative of the union representing four teachers’ unions in Sao Tome.
“Teachers continue to be outraged by what the government wants to offer,” he stressed.
During the demonstration, teachers also responded to the Prime Minister when he said last week that the state “is not a cow that everyone comes and squeezes to get milk” and that “the cow has no more milk.”
“If the milk goes missing, it’s not our fault. We never fed this cow, we want to feed it now,” he reacted.
Another teacher, Nilsa Kamble, stressed that teachers are open to negotiations but want a “decent salary.”
“He [o primeiro-ministro] He doesn’t want to be sensitive with us. You are authoritarian,” he complained.
The general teachers’ strike began on March 1 and paralyzed all schools in the archipelago, from pre-school to secondary.
The minimum salary in the civil service is set at 2,500 times (about 100 euros), teachers say that many have a basic salary of 2,135 times (87 euros). That is why they demand a 10 thousand times increase (about 100-400 euros) or a significant improvement in subsidies, and this is the only point that has not yet been agreed upon.
On Thursday, Sao Tome’s prime minister said the government had already made some improvements to teachers’ benefits and warned teachers that “three weeks is too long”, calling for an end to the strike that has paralyzed schools in the archipelago and left about 80,000 children without classes.
The next round of talks with the government is scheduled for Wednesday, unions said.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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